Almost five hundred years had passed since the Second Temple (Zerubbabel's) was
constructed by those who returned from the Babylonian Exile. After that the
Temple had no doubt been repaired and enlarged, but it remained essentially the
old building, inferior in beauty and grandeur to Solomonís Temple and to some of
the pagan temples which were around.
Not only was it contrary to Herod's love of architecture to permit the Temple of
his own God to remain so modest, but also he thought to show his piety to the
Jews by making their Temple grander than the rest. The leading scribes were very
suspicious at first and opposed his plan. They actually believed that once he
pulled the old building down he would never replace it. Herod had to promise
that he would not touch the old building until he had built the new one around
it.
Under no circumstances were the services to be interrupted. Herod hired workmen
by the thousands. Among them were many priests to build those portions not
accessible to ordinary Jews. The work began by leveling larger portions of the
Temple Mount, so that the new building might be erected on a broader base. It
was also made much taller, so that the white stone gleamed in the bright
Palestinian sun and could be seen from miles away.
See The
Construction of the Temple
On the northern and southern sides of the building were the enclosed halls or
rooms where the priests prepared for the service, and where the Sanhedrin met.
The large open court on the east, facing the Temple proper, was divided into
several parts. Closest to the Temple was the portion set aside for the altar and
the officiating priests. Next to it was the court for the Israelites who came to
watch the service. By the side of that was the gallery for the women, and behind
it was the court of the Gentiles.
A wall surrounded the whole area, part of which remains to this day, known as
"The Wailing Wall," to which Jews have gone on pilgrimage during the recent
centuries of exile.
The Temple took many years to build. Begun in 19-20 BC, it was not finished till
long after Herod's death. The Jews prided in Herod's accomplishment until Herod
placed a huge Roman eagle over the most important gate of the new Temple. Before
long there was a conspiracy to pull the eagle down. When rumor circulated that
Herod was dying, a group of young men gathered before the gate on which the
golden eagle was set and began to pull it down. The soldiers interfered and
arrested about forty of them. Herod was so enraged at this sign of
insubordination and insult to Rome, that he had the "rebels" burned alive.
See Also:

The Court of the Gentiles

Gal 4:4 "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law"

The Court of the Gentiles was the outermost court in the Jerusalem Temple during the time of Jesus. No gentile or non-Jew could proceed any further into the inner temple areas, and even Roman citizenship did not protect a Gentile who intruded into prohibited areas.